The Old Soldier
by Songbird's Spirit
Summary: Rewrite of 'The Wisdom Years'. (Post AOE) Jacky has been a soldier of NEST since its first year. After the government decided to reinstate NEST for fhe third time, Jacky can only wonder if the Autobots are willing to continue their alliance with humanity...not to mention how Optimus may be faring alone in the vast expanse of space.
1. Old Intro

Take aim, pull the trigger, and then brace yourself for the recoil.

Damn that recoil

I bit back the small growl that climbed my throat. I was getting old; almost too old to handle the damn recoil on my gun. And hell if that didn't just piss me off.

"Why can't we fight somewhere where there are fewer things to get smashed with?" I muttered under my breath as I once more took aim at the Decepticon tearing up the urban streets.

The soldier next to me, Lennox surprisingly, just snorted humorlessly at my words, "Because that would be unethical." He replied sarcastically.

"Don't be getting fresh with me kid." I warned with hints of humor to let him know not to take the statement seriously.

"I'm in my late thirties." The Captain replied humorlessly.

"I'm forty-nine."

He was silent but only for a moment, "I outrank you."

"Barely," I snorted and gave a slightly relieved sigh as an Autobot; Sideswipe if I remembered correctly, came rounding the corner.

He managed to tear the con to pieces with a simple ease humanity could only wish for. I stood and popped my arms a bit as Lennox went over to check the progress of the teams.

"Jacky," The woman looked to the Autobot as she knew very well Lennox never possessed such rich tones in his voice.

"Aye, what do you need?" I replied tiredly.

The warrior checked his surroundings before awkwardly squatting down to be more on my level…at least I assumed as much. The silver mech sighed and shook his head.

"Perhaps it would be best if you returned to the base with Evac. He is done with his part if-." The alien being began to suggest but I interrupted him.

Okay, this was getting annoying.

"For heaven's sake Sideswipe," I shook my head, "Not you too."

The Autobot could only offer a somewhat sheepish look, "I…but don't you think they might have a point?" he said carefully.

"Completely," I answered without hesitation.

"Then why don't you-."

Once more, interrupted him, "Look, I know I'm old and don't you dare tell anyone I just admitted to it," a trace of a smile flickered on the silver mech's face-plates, "I'm just not ready to retire yet."

"Oh?" he said with an amused tone as he straightened back up.

"My shoulder isn't cracked yet." I sighed, referring to the pain recoil brought.

A sly smirk spread across his features as he stopped for just a moment.

"Actually, my scanners indicate-."

"Fuck your scanners."

* * *

Being able to return to base was one of the many things to rejoice in. I sure as hell did when I was able to. Soldier work could be virtually non-stop depending on your forte.

But that was one thing also highly taken advantage of.

No one had the right to look forward to going back to base. The universe owes humanity nothing. You could die at any moment. Seeing those large doorways was always a sign of safety and end for me. No more shooting until I left them behind again in a standard green military jeep.

I passed the common areas, merely wanting to go through the female side break room and into the gender-respective human housing area.

"I am way to damn old for this," I sighed with a small and somewhat satisfied smile.

"Then why haven't you retired?" Yet another voice no human could possess rumbled from behind me. And I knew this voice rather well.

I turned and gave the black weapon's specialist a weary smile, "Speak for yourself, old-timer." I replied good-naturedly.

An amused smile graced his lip components. "I'm sure you realize the differences in aging." He snorted.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking down the massive halls, now able to exchange easy banter with the people around me. "You're still old." I shrugged with a loose hint of stubbornness in my tone.

The gung-ho mech just rolled his own set of optics, "Stubborn." He sighed.

"Trigger-happy," I replied just as smoothly.

Ironhide just shrugged indifferently. There was no arguing that point.

I've worked at NEST for fourteen years. It shouldn't even take half as long for one to realize their not that different from you besides the fact their gigantic…and made of metal.

They also live such long lives that Ironhide was probably alive when humanity still lived in caves and took a dump whenever and wherever they felt the need to.

"But in all seriousness," The old mech sighed, "You should consider retirement Jacky. You're almost fifty. The executive board might just shove a notice in your hands…or however that works."

"Please," I chuckled, "military's going to milk every drop of fight I've got until it's gone."

"Jacky," he said with a no-nonsense tone, "I'm serious."

I just sighed, "I'm aware Hide," I muttered, "I suppose you have a point along with every new recruit who believes I'm completely deaf and can't hear their insults." I laughed bitterly, "But I also think that it's…perhaps a bit more complicated."

"How so," Hide questioned and answered my silent one, "At your current rate it will take about seven to twelve minutes to reach human-housing. I've also got nothing better to do since the shooting range doesn't quite exist anymore."

"That was your own damn fault and you know it."

"Don't change the subject."

"I didn't, you did." I smirked a tad cheekily.

The black-armored mech raised a brow-plate, "Watch yourself femme, I will take you to Ratchet."

I paled a bit. He was the most insistent about my retirement…It wasn't surprising either. Again, I'd worked with the same aliens for fourteen years…I knew them and they knew me as I was one of the few humans to last this long just as Lennox and Epps had.

"So, what were you saying?" I prompted.

"You mentioned having complicated reasons for avoiding retirement." Hide reminded me, "See, already having amnesia."

I glared at him, "If you're taking me to Ratchet then that statement just earned you a one-way ticket to the Medbay from hell."

"You'd drag me down with you?" He bantered along just for the heck of it.

"You're damn right I would." I replied.

Then everything just kind of faded into a comfortable silence. Nothing more needed to be said and the moment was just in a comfortable position neither of us felt the need to ruin with my retirement shit. Once at human housing we parted ways, for obvious reasons, and I just went straight down to my room.

I sat down of the edge of my bed, trying not to wince as my older bones protested the movement. I leaned back against the wall and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Face it Jacky," I murmured to myself, "They're right. How much longer were you going to lie to yourself?" I took a reluctant glance towards my desk and considered actually turning in the notice to them for the umpteenth time.

In the end, I merely laid down in bed and put it off for another day.


	2. Things Have Changed

"How could you do something so irresponsible?!" The lime green CMO roared.

 _'Just give him a minute to yell and it'll be over soon…'_ I sighed in my head.

"Look at this! You know damn good and well your bones cannot handle this kind of strain!" He ranted; seeming to grow increasingly irritated every passing second.

'Then again I've been wrong before,' I sighed out loud this time, "It's not that bad." I grumbled.

To my chagrin, the Medic caught my statement. "Not that bad!" He thundered, "YOU'RE SHOULDER IS SHATTERED!"

"I am aware." I scowled.

"I hope so; the stupidity you possess is boundless!" He scowled.

"Oh would you give it a rest?!" I snapped, "So I made a mistake…Everyone makes mistakes."

In my defense, Ironhide hadn't said the hand-cannon was _that_ powerful.

He just said it was a bit more than I would have been used to…

I'm not quite sure how those two sentences got mixed up for him in terms of definition.

It was only a matter of time until Ratchet was moving about the room grumbling to himself as he gathered the necessary tools to fix up my arm. I didn't trust the human doctors, they weren't well experienced and I did not get along with the main human CMO. She and I practically tried to glare each other to death every time we saw one another.

"Jacky," Ratchet said sternly as he transformed and activated his Holoform, "I'm most likely going to have to apply nanites to the wound to help it reform and reset."

"I figured it wasn't _completely shattered_ ," I drawled humorlessly.

"I may have overreacted a bit," He sighed grumpily, "but you cannot afford these mistakes. I will have to notify your superiors." He said albeit a tad sadly.

"Another fact I am also aware of," I laughed lightly.

"That's be enough out of you smartass," Ratchet scolded good-naturedly and gave me a light thump on the forehead, "However, promise me you will be more careful." He murmured as he began to gently maneuver my arm to make his work a little easier, "As much as we all encourage your retirement you would be missed if you do ever choose to leave."

"You know what," Perceptor mumbled from the background, "She reminds me of Kup. She won't give up her military family until her dying breath. He's was the same and I don't even know if he's online or not."

"Family," Ratchet questioned?

"I've been here for-."

"Fourteen years," Ratchet and Percy interrupted at the same time.

"And you two call me the smartass," I huffed, "But yeah, I've watched everyone grow up. It feels like I'm home and with family. I really don't know what I'd do if I had to leave. Unlike you, I can leave the military…but this battle of yours doesn't leave a lot of options when you're Cybertronian."

"You've got that right;" Perceptor said wistfully, "Many of us didn't start out as fighters. For example, Sideswipe owned a business back home and Jolt was an electrician."

"Does that count?" I mused since Jolt used electricity to fight but Ratchet just shrugged.

Perceptor hummed thoughtfully, "We all know Prime was a data clerk…Ratchet was already in the Medic field but I do believe Wheeljack worked alongside him sometimes." Ratchet nodded, "I thought so…I already dabbled in science and engineering," Perceptor paused.

"What about Jazz?" I asked carefully.

"He was a messenger…" Ratchet sighed, "He was quick and had a good memory. He loved being able to travel all over the place."

"How's he doing?" I asked as we all gazed over at the slumbering silver mech.

"His nanites are still working at one-sixteenth of the pace they normally do. Until I can find a proper formula for long-term nanites to speed up the process he'll stay in Cryo-Lock for another three vorns or so…" Ratchet paused, "But that's even a risk. Cybertronian bodies were not meant to be in such long states of inactivity."

"Remind me again how long a vorn is?"

"About seventy-three earth years," Perceptor answered.

"So, I guess none of the humans in this generation will ever meet him…" I said a bit sadly. Everyone seemed to recall fond things about Jazz. Even Prowl, a newer arrival who had come by himself, spoke fondly even when recalling parts of the past where the mech would annoy him during work without end.

I was especially fond of hearing the story of when Jazz managed to hack into Prowl's quarters on the Arc despite being almost completely intoxicated.

Prowl was a good storyteller when he told personal stories like that…which almost never happened. But he had felt the need to when he arrived and discovered the state of his close friend.

"There," Ratchet's Holoform stepped back, "That should do it."

I looked over to see my arm in a bind and it appeared to be shifting. "That shift you see in the coloring should be the nanites. If they ever stop please tell me right away."

"I thought you were still testing nanites?" I said suspiciously.

"Medical nanites are much simpler than the full scale nanites needed for Jazz," Perceptor explained, "The nanites our bodies use are set to remain active until we offline as they control things such as our coloring, self-reparation, and even numb pain and set in reformats if one needs to be upgraded. Medical nanites on the other hand have a one track function of repair and are programmed to offline themselves and revert to atomic particles when their job is deemed done."

"That's amazing," I smiled, "Thanks again Ratchet."

"Try not to hurt yourself again. And as repayment, I expect a favor." Ratchet shushed any complaints, "You're supposed to go to the human doctors and I'm technically not supposed to even be giving you these nanites. So consider the favor to be because of the nanites."

"Fine," I sighed and shook my head light-heartedly, "What did you need?"

Ratchet sighed out his intakes and leaned against the counter. "I want you to try and contact Optimus. Sideswipe will be in the communications hanger so I'll have him help you contact him."

I gave him a quizzical look. "Why me? I'd think the last thing he'd want right now is human contact..." I grumbled softly.

"I can only imagine what's going through his head." Perceptor sighed. "After Cemetery Winds offed the younger set of twins, not to mention Leadfoot and Ultra Magnus I find it hard to believe he would still be willing to protect the human race."

I nodded in agreement, "I can't argue with that. At the very least we're making actual solid efforts to repay what we've done. KSI tech has made serious contributions in terms of tech and housing accommodations." I mused.

Ratchet looked from me to Perceptor and back again, "Optimus is nothing if not a forgiving mech, even when his forgiveness is not earned." Ratchet offered a servo for me to step onto which I gratefully accepted, "Have you been able to make any progress with KSI?" Ratchet asked.

Perceptor shook his helm. "While they did learn a lot about our history and biology from Megatron, very little of out medical tools and extensive scientific endeavors were kept filed in him. I'm hesitant to allow them to program new tools with that Transformium of theirs. It would be too easy for them to take data from its replication."

Ratchet nodded in understanding, "I'll see what I can do when I return." The medic replied before walking out the door with me in hand.

I let out a startled yelp as Ratchet suddenly began to transform. It was quick, though startling, shifting from his palm to the passenger's seat. The seatbelt snaked over my chest and clicked into place.

Ratchet silently shifted gears and began driving towards the communications hangar at a steady 45 mph.

"I think the few humans he's worked with...Sam, Cade, Tessa, Shane, Lennox, Epps, Mikeala, and even some of the other soldiers on base keep his faith in humanity going." Ratchet spoke up with a quiet gruffness, "I don't think he will mind you. He'll be happy to hear a familiar voice...and to know that Sideswipe made it back from hiding safely."

"I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I'm scared of Boss Bot now." I admitted.

Ratchet let out an explosive little snort-laugh hybrid, "The only ones that should be afraid of Optimus Prime are the Decepticons."

"Maybe so. But when I saw the disappointment on his face the third time NEST was disbanded because humans blamed his-."

"Third?" Ratchet interrupted.

"Galloway disbanded it the first time. It was disbanded for a brief time shortly after the Autobots' Exile before reinstating somewhat unofficially before it's official two month reinstatement. Before the government abruptly disbanded it _again_ due to overwhelming public rioting and outcry." I counted off. "After all you had done for us. I saw Optimus's reaction to having soldiers storm the base and take over, unleashing their weapons on him. After all he had done, and all the people he had to sacrifice, we were still selfish enough to turn on the Autobots and hunt you guys down like animals."

"Jacky..." Ratchet said softly, "It's not like you took part in it. If my memory serves me you were thrown in jail for sabotage and several extreme cases of insubordination."

"And I did. But in the end what did I accomplish?" I grumbled.

"Loyalty. It's why you're a part of NEST again." Ratchet reminded me and slowed to a halt outside the communications hanger.

I stayed put for a moment even after the seatbelt had removed itself and Ratchet had opened his door. After a moment, I put a hand on the dashboard and gave it a find pat. "Thank you Ratchet, for everything." I said softly and slid out of his cab.

The medic playfully gave me a light tap with the door before I could move out of the way. "You're welcome Jacky." He replied and I couldn't help but smile, giving him a friendly wave goodbye as he shut his passenger door and sped off towards the medical bay.

I felt a little better walking towards the communications hangar with a smile on my face.


End file.
